MP Motorsport’s Richard Verschoor produced a fine display to win the Formula 2 Saudi Arabian Feature Race after he was denied victory on Saturday.
The Dutchman made the alternative strategy work and avenged the time penalty that denied him the win in the Sprint Race.
Jak Crawford had to settle for second, ahead of Victor Martins in third place, to complete the top three.
He lined up from pole position for DAMS Lucas Oil alongside Martins in second and Leonardo Fornaroli from third on the grid.
The Campos Racing duo of Arvid Lindblad and Pepe Marti started the race from fifth and seventh, respectively.
Lindblad became the youngster race winner in F2 on Saturday whilst his team-mate took the joint-championship lead with a second-place finish.
Verschoor on top in Jeddah to take Feature Race win
Crawford made a good start to hold onto his lead into Turn 1, with very little changes to the order after the opening lap.
As Lindblad failed to make his way past Luke Browning in fourth, the British driver lost momentum with Alexander Dunne swooping past and into fifth place.
On the next lap, Marti proceeded to take sixth off Lindblad into Turn 1 as Saturday’s race winner had the Prema Racing car of Gabrielle Mini hot on his tail.
Roman Stanek, who was demoted to 13th after a three-place grid penalty, made his way back into the top 10 with a superb start to the Feature Race.
By Lap 4, Browning applied the pressure to Fornaroli in third, but the Hitech racing driver was unable to get close enough at the end of the pit straight.
However, the Italian went wide into Turn 22, allowing Browning to gain significantly and complete the overtake into Turn 1.
Dunne capitalised on Fornaroli’s mistake to also make his way past and into fourth for Rodin Motorsport.
Frontrunners Mini, Fornaroli and Marti all opted for an early pit stop on Lap 6, but the Spaniard had a slow stop in the pits.
Race leader Crawford pitted the next lap, avoiding the debris left by the Van Amersfoort Racing car of John Bennett.
Martins was the last to pit of the supersoft runners and the Frenchman exited the pits ahead of Crawford to take the lead.
On cold tyres, the American attempted to get by at Turn 13, but the Virtual Safety Car was called, to the relief of Martins, to clear the debris left at the pit lane entrance.
Meanwhile, Dunne made a move on Browning into Turn 1 but was unable to stop the car in time as he went wide.
As he returned to the track, he came straight into the path of Browning, allowing Fornaroli to retake third place.
With the track clear, the racing resumed and Dunne allowed Browning to take fourth to avoid the attention of the stewards.
Martins came under pressure from Crawford into Turn 1, with the 19-year-old momentarily taking the lead before Martins fought his way back into first.
Patience was key for Crawford, as on Lap 12, his pressure paid off and he finally regained the lead in the Feature race.
At Turn 27, Marti made a successful lunge on Dunne and defended his position from the Irishman after the pit straight.
The Campos driver then turned his attentions to Browning in front, as he made another dive into Turn 1, but the British driver held his position as he went off track.
Marti attacked once again on the following lap, this time around the outside, but it was his turn to go off track as Browning maintained his position.
Finally, on Lap 16, Marti made the move stick as Browning had to concede his net fourth place.
Of the alternative strategy runners, Verschoor was setting the timing sheets alive at the front of the pack and held the fastest lap of the race on his prime tyres.
He was denied victory after a time penalty demoted him from first on track to fourth in the Sprint Race.
Dunne was handed a five-second time penalty as the stewards deemed that he had forced Browning off the track.
Verschoor continued to set purple sectors as he continued to build his gap over the early pitters, and by Lap 24, he made his pit stop from the race lead.
The MP Motorsport racing driver came out of the pits and ahead of Martins on his cold tyres.
He managed to hold his position, giving him five laps to chase down Crawford for the race win.
On Lap 26, Lindblad made his way back up the order after overtaking Mini for a net eighth-placed finish.
The gap between Crawford and Verschoor stood at just over a second with two laps left of the Feature Race.
A veteran of the junior series, the 24-year-old used all of his experience to put himself into a position to win, and he made the crucial overtake at the start of the final lap.
From ninth on the grid, Verschoor crossed the line to secure a masterful victory in Jeddah and clinch the championship lead.
Crawford and Martins completed the podium places.
Fornaroli finished in fourth, Marti in fifth, Browning in sixth, Lindblad in seventh and Dunne in eighth after his time penalty bumped him down the order.
Mini took ninth and Kush Maini grabbed the final point in 10th for DAMS.
READ MORE – Arvid Lindblad wins Saudi Arabian Sprint to become youngest F2 race winner
